This Ladies’s Asian Cup presents a uncommon, maybe once-in-a-lifetime alternative for Vietnam’s nationwide ladies’s soccer crew, for whom perseverance is greater than a slogan.
The event looms because the gateway to a possible second look on the 2027 FIFA Ladies’s World Cup — a stage that represents each historical past and unfinished ambition for the South-East Asian aspect.
Veteran journalist and commentator Tran Quang Tuyen advised ABC Sport that the ladies’s aspect had spent the previous 20 years constructing success largely out of the highlight, guided by persistence and with a watch firmly on the long run.
“That technique bore fruit at the latest Southeast Asian (SEA) Video games in Thailand, the place practically half the squad was refreshed with youthful gamers with none important drop in efficiency,” Tuyen mentioned, pointing to what he described as clear proof of a well-functioning growth pipeline.
In a rustic the place the lads’s recreation continues to dominate business attraction and media protection, the ladies’s home panorama stays compact, sometimes comprising six to eight golf equipment within the nationwide championship.
The Vietnam Soccer Federation (VFF) has prioritised continuity, investing in youth pathways and abroad publicity fairly than speedy enlargement.
Vietnam made its FIFA Ladies’s World Cup debut on the 2023 event co-hosted in Australia and New Zealand. (Getty Photos: Jan Kruger)
From grassroots beginnings to structured development
A lot of Vietnam’s earlier generations of footballers emerged from loosely organised grassroots competitions, reflecting modest beginnings. Lately, nevertheless, growth has turn into extra systematic.
Main golf equipment reminiscent of Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Ladies’s FC, Ha Noi Ladies’s FC, Phong Phu Ha Nam Ladies’s FC and Than KSVN Ladies’s FC now function structured youth sides, forming a clearer pathway to the senior nationwide crew.
Officers describe the system as gradual however more and more skilled, with enhanced scouting networks, youth teaching funding and longer-term athlete administration.
Tran Thi An represents one of many clearest examples of Vietnam’s rising pattern in ladies’s soccer growth.
Tran Thi An (left) celebrates with teammates after establishing a decisive objective in a 2026 AFC U17 Ladies’s Asian Cup match. (Provided: Vietnam Soccer Federation)
An started taking part in soccer at 14 and now performs for Phong Phu Ha Nam, newly topped back-to-back 2026 Nationwide U19 champions.
In Vietnam’s decisive qualifier for the 2026 AFC U17 Ladies’s Asian Cup towards Hong Kong (China), she wore the captain’s armband and led her aspect to victory, sealing their place on the 2026 finals.
Regional success, international desires
Vietnam’s senior ladies have been amongst South-East Asia’s most profitable groups over the previous 20 years, accumulating eight SEA Video games gold medals since 2001 and three ASEAN (AFF) titles.
Their breakthrough on the worldwide stage got here with qualification for the 2023 FIFA Ladies’s World Cup — Vietnam’s first look on the event.
Vietnam is aiming to problem Asia’s high groups. (Getty Photos: Brad Smith)
Though outcomes proved difficult, with three one-sided defeats, participation marked a milestone and underscored rising requirements.
Coach Mai Duc Chung acknowledges that Vietnam sits in Asia’s second tier, trailing established heavyweights reminiscent of Japan, North Korea, Australia and South Korea.
“In Asia, we’re ranked behind the main groups,” Chung mentioned.
“We all know that to attain good outcomes, we should present robust dedication and most effort.”
On the upcoming AFC Ladies’s Asian Cup finals in Australia, Vietnam has been drawn with Japan, Taiwan and India.
For soccer observers at residence and overseas, development to the quarter-finals is seen as a practical goal.
A semi-final end would safe direct qualification for subsequent yr’s World Cup in Brazil.
Even a quarter-final exit would nonetheless depart a play-off route open, which means a fifth or sixth-place end may suffice.
Vietnam not too long ago performed a pleasant towards China as a part of its Asian Cup preparations. (Provided: Vietnam Soccer Federation)
Reflecting on earlier continental campaigns, together with a difficult Asian Cup 2022 in India, Chung mentioned the crew had matured by adversity.
“At this degree, each crew has lifted its requirements and invested considerably in growth,” he mentioned.
“If we’re to attain the consequence we’re aiming for, we should compete with all of them.”
Crew to name on Vietnamese diaspora for assist
Head coach Chung additionally acknowledged the function of supporters, significantly members of the Vietnamese group in Australia, whose presence he mentioned would assist offset the space from residence.
Tuyen mentioned crowd assist, whereas modest in contrast with the lads’s recreation, remained regular. Nationwide crew matches and main home fixtures sometimes draw between 2,000 and 5,000 spectators.
The crew is hoping the Vietnamese diaspora in Australia seems in huge numbers. (Provided: Vietnam Soccer Federation)
Attendance surges on main events: practically 20,000 followers packed Cam Pha Stadium in Quảng Ninh for the ladies’s remaining on the 2022 SEA Video games.
Amongst them are teenage supporters reminiscent of Hung Nguyen, who started following the Vietnam ladies’s nationwide crew through the 2023 Ladies’s World Cup.
In response to Hung, the fan base has grown noticeably youthful, significantly within the wake of that event.
On social platforms, spotlight reels and participant tales — particularly these that includes stars reminiscent of Huynh Nhu — are broadly shared, drawing robust engagement from youngsters who watch, remark and rally behind the aspect.
For Hung and his pals, ladies’s soccer has additionally turn into a supply of inspiration, symbolising resilience and progress in gender equality.
For his half, Chung mentioned the crew had drawn power from the assist of Vietnamese followers overseas as they ready to play away from residence.
“Competing outdoors Vietnam, the backing of our abroad supporters — significantly in Australia — offers us added confidence,” he mentioned.
“We are going to do our utmost for the nationwide colors and for the spirit of Vietnam.”
Nguyen Thuy Mien is a world affairs journalist for Thanh Nien, one in all Vietnam’s most respected day by day newspapers primarily based in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis.
She is a member of ABC Worldwide Growth’s Ladies in Information and Sport Initiative, funded by the Australian Division of International Affairs and Commerce by the Crew Up program.
